Egyptian flu

9.1

A joking name for mild flu-like sickness people get after travel to Egypt

noun

Informal

: gripe egipcia

After visiting Cairo, she complained of the Egyptian flu.

Examples

I think I caught the Egyptian flu after my trip.
He blamed his tiredness on the Egyptian flu from his recent travels.
After returning from her holiday, she claimed she had caught the Egyptian flu.
Many tourists laughed about getting the Egyptian flu after sampling the local cuisine.
Many tourists laughed about getting the Egyptian flu after sampling the local cuisine.
After returning from her holiday, she claimed she had caught the Egyptian flu.
He blamed his tiredness on the Egyptian flu from his recent travels.

Synonyms

flu

vsEgyptian flu

354 1.0

A common contagious illness that causes fever, aches, and coughs

is a humorous mild term for travel sickness rather than a contagious disease

influenza

vsEgyptian flu

Specialized

50 3.3

A contagious illness caused by a virus that gives fever, body aches, and cough

is a playful, mild travel label rather than a serious contagious infection

Surface Forms

Egyptian flu singular

Egyptian flus plural

Morphology

Egyptian + flu

The meaning is directly inferable from the parts: 'Egyptian' (from Egypt) modifies 'flu' (an illness), so a B1 learner who knows both words can predict it refers to a flu associated with Egypt or travel to Egypt. Although colloquial and humorous, the country+disease construction is a common, cross-linguistic pattern, making the sense transparent.

Etymology

Egyptian flu comes from travelers joking that the Egyptian part points to the trip and the flu part to a small illness they caught from new food, dust or long travel. So, people use it to mean 'mild flu-like symptoms' or 'travel tiredness' after visiting Egypt or similar places.